Why travel?

It’s a question I’ve often been asked.

How did you get started traveling?
Why do you still travel?

For me, it boils down to this:

Film Studies and Genetics. 

Yes, seriously. I’ve never made a film before in my life or taken a course on genetics, but as a high school senior these two areas of study intrigued me. I couldn’t decide between them. The problem? They both require significant university resources for a good program, and no US school has truly excellent programs in both. 

My senior year of high school I was accepted to 11 different colleges.

But when my mother sat down with me to ask where I wanted to go, I couldn’t give her a straight answer. 

“This school is supposed to be great for student life, but that school is more prestigious. And– this school is offering a great scholarship, but that school is next to the beach.” 

That’s when my mother gave me her 2 cents, as mothers do best, and suggested I forgo undergraduate school altogether until I had more thoroughly explored my passions. 

 “What? Not go to college? What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like, go abroad somewhere.”

Forty-eight hours later I’d called the right people, secured myself an interview and was reviewing finally drafts of a slew of essays for Rotary International’s youth exchange program. 

So, my first trip abroad was thanks to my mom, who accurately identified something important:

My indecision wasn’t a character flaw, but a sign that I needed more time. 

Time to explore my passions. Time to develop a clearer future vision. Time to think. 

My teachers at the time were horrified.

They couldn’t believe that their — shock! — straight A student might not go to college! 

My parents, though, never doubted my trajectory for a second. As ex-college professors themselves, they’d heard of students taking gap years before and they knew that a detour from the traditional path can often tremendously help, not hurt, one’s career. And they were right.

(Note: Actually, just a few years earlier my older sister had spent a successful year abroad in Thailand with Rotary. So, while my mother’s suggestion kickstarted my own travel, she was influenced by my sister’s successful year. Which in turn was influenced by a fellow church-goer’s son who had been to Russia… the line of dominos is long. When I initially called up Rotary, my district deadlines had passed, but the good impressions left behind by my sister led a few key people to help me find a nearby district with later deadlines.)

Rotary picks students based on their desire to go abroad and learn new things.

But they do not necessarily choose students based on a desire to go one specific place. When I explained that I wanted to go forth with learning Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, Rotary tried briefly to convince me out of it. After researching possibilities for learning Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malay, French, Czech, Polish, Slovak and German, though, I responded to my Rotary counsellor that:

“I still feel like my heart is set in South America.”

My heart, as it were, was dreaming not only of improving my high school level 3 Spanish, but also of seeing a colorful city with PALM TREES in a country with indigenous people. Yes, I actually looked up the percentage of indigenous people in Bolivia before deciding to go there — 62%, the highest in Latin America (UNDP 2006). 

Seeing Europe was never a priority for me.

I thought life there would be too similar to life in the States.

I wanted something different, something shocking. I wanted something to make me run home full of passion saying “Yes, I have to make a film about this!” or “Yes, I have to discover genetic modifications to improve crop production for these farmers!” … or whatever it is that inspires geneticists.

But in 2008, Bolivia wasn’t known for inspiring film festivals or GMO research.

Rather, the country was plagued by civil unrest in response to the questionnable actions of Evo Morales— the indigenous president who I figured would be so cool.

Many of my fellow exchange students went home early, but I developed a sense of solidarity for my host country and stayed. I was far from able to understand the complexities of the political situation at the time, but I knew that I wanted to learn more:

Shouldn’t an indigenous, populist president be a good thing? What was land reform, anyways? Why was coca so restricted? What is so wrong with nationalizing resources? 

I ended up choosing The University of Texas at Dallas because they offered me a full scholarship (through the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program), in large part because they were impressed by my decision to spend a year in Bolivia.

The Bolivians told me that I would be stupid to pass up free college (and seeing what they went through to afford lesser quality schools made me understand their reasoning). So, the only thing left was to figure out what I’d study. 

My first day on campus I asked professor Jennifer Holmes for help.

I wanted to know which program would help me find the answers to my lingering questions about Bolivia… and which program would let me travel the most. She didn’t hesitate a second:

International Political Economy.

And just like that, in one year, I found a university, a degree program, and a passion for travel. And now, I’m #BloggingAbroad

Why travel?

Because it can help you discover a passion and a direction in life. At least, it certainly did for me.